Spy scientist AS Narayan Rao caught by CBI
Spy scientist AS Narayan Rao caught by CBI
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Spy gone awry: Narayana Rao (wearing spectacles) coming out of the Tees Hazari courts after his hearing |
The new Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) secretary, KC Verma, got a taste of his department's "corruption" on the first day of his tenure, as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths held a senior director for taking bribe.
While Verma took charge of his new profile, the CBI arrested RAW scientist Dr AS Narayan Rao for seeking a bribe of Rs 8 lakh and receiving the first tranche of Rs 1 lakh from a Chennai-based company in Karol Bagh on Monday.
"The staff at the RAW headquarters got a shock as the news spread regarding the arrest of the senior official. The agency has not been having an easy time specially after 26/11. The internal fight between its officers has been made public. These are bad signs for a spy agency," said a senior RAW official, wishing anonymity.
CBI sleuths trapped Dr Rao when the Chennai company complained to the agency that the officer was asking for a bribe to issue a licence to export sensitive items worth Rs 4.5 crore. According to an agency report, Dr Rao, a PhD in Physics, working in the technical division of RAW, is a member of the working committee of the inter-ministerial group formed to grant export licences to companies dealing in sensitive items.
Dr Rao was caught red-handed by the CBI from a hotel at Karol Bagh when he was taking the bribe amount from the businessman, the CBI told the court of PK Saxena.
Granting three days time to the CBI, the court fixed February 5 as the next date of hearing. "The company was dealing in sensitive items that required clearance of the cabinet secretariat or RAW," said CBI spokesperson Harsh Behl.
